The Texas State Securities Board, composed of the old Securities Divisions of the Secretary of State and the Board of Insurance Commissioners, was created by the Texas Securities Act of 1957 (Senate Bill 294, 55th Texas Legislature, Regular Session) to regulate securities sold publicly in Texas. The mission of the State Securities Board is to protect Texas investors and its goals are to ensure a free and competitive securities market for Texas, increase investor confidence, and thereby encourage the formation of capital and the creation of new jobs in Texas. The regulation of securities involves the registration of stocks, bonds, and other securities sold in the state; the licensing of persons or firms selling securities; the investigation of alleged violations of the act; and the presentation of these violations to county and district attorneys for prosecution. Types of documents include correspondence and memoranda; press releases; agenda and minutes; requests for, notices of, and summaries of various board actions; notices of hearings and copies of board orders; reports of investigations, hearings, and examinations; legislation, attorney general opinions, and court documents; newspaper clippings, magazine articles, newsletters, prospectuses, and other publications; budget materials; and notes. Records range in date from 1933 to 2008. Materials cover nearly all aspects of the regulation of securities, both by the Secretary of State (1933-1957) and by the Securities Board (1957-2008). Record series include minutes of meetings held from 1957-1976, 1979-2008; an apparently complete set of files on Securities Board meetings between November 18, 1959 and December 21, 1967, which may have been maintained by Deputy Securities Commissioner Truman G. Holladay; subject files documenting the transition of regulation duties from the Secretary of State to the Securities Board; Enforcement Division and Inspection and Compliance Division board orders and notices of hearings, subjects of which include revocations of exemptions and registrations, denials of applications, and prohibitions against individuals or firms publishing offers or operating in Texas; an apparently complete set of press releases issued by the Securities Board between July 1957 and December 1974 regarding securities registrations in Texas, filed and granted applications for permits to sell securities in Texas, and legal actions against violators of the Securities Act; and, finally, newspaper clippings (January 1973-May 1975) concerning the Sharpstown stock fraud scandal. To prepare this inventory, the described materials were cursorily reviewed to delineate series, to confirm the accuracy of contents lists, to provide an estimate of dates covered, and to determine record types.
